Frodo is Definitely Iggy Pop!

Although the project has been stewing for the past few years, the Iggy Pop movie is definitely going ahead, and Elijah Wood is still attached to play the famous lanky musician. I keep looking at Pop's face and try to imagine Elijah's stretched to fit. I can't really see it, but I'm willing to stay optimistic. At the very least, Pop wasn't as gaunt back then, and was much smoother and Elijah-like (check out an old Stooges cover to the right). The biopic is still called The Passenger, and it will follow Iggy's early years with the Stooges -- meaning the late sixties and early seventies.

Passenger was penned by Eric Schmid, and it will be directed by Nick Gomez -- the man behind the questionable Drowning Mona, who has been busy lately directing television shows all over the place from Veronica Mars to The Practice. I'm a bit surprised, because this seems like the perfect project for someone with a strong musical background. And if there is one thing we've got right now, it's a large bunch of talented musically-inclined directors. The Pop man himself was given a chance to be involved, but he said: "The script ain't chopped liver... It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don't want to be involved in any way." It is set to head into production some time this year with a meager $6-$8 million budget, for a release planned in 2008. I'm waiting to see if "I'll be shakin', I'll be tremblin', I'll be happy, I'll be weak -- and [if] I'll love" this flick. There might be some questionable aspects, but at least Pop thinks the script is art.